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The Rat Truth
"The Rat Truth" is the first half of the sixth episode of the second season of Wayside. Synopsis Dana is asked to take care of Sammy while he's sick, but everyone else wants him, as whenever they hold him they feel able to say what they've always wanted to. Plot The episode begins in the kitchen, with Miss Mush contemplating how Sammy, a dead rat, can get sick. She decides to make soup to heal him, but after realizing how terrible it tastes, she realizes it can only be saved by the Golden Bowl of Mamaland. Miss Mush catches Dana on her way down the stairs, and asks her to take care of Sammy while she prepares to make the voyage to Mamaland. Dana agrees, Miss Mush prepares, and heads off. In the hallway, Dana decides to talk with Sammy about Mrs. Jewls's class, saying it's a nice place, but disorganized. While Sammy says nothing, Dana believes that he deserves better than that, and decides that she is going to whip the classroom into shape for him. In Mrs. Jewls's class, all the students are goofing off, until Dana comes in and shouts for everyone to get in line. While Todd appreciates the organization, he asks who put Dana in charge, and Dana explains it was Sammy's idea. Since all the students appreciate Sammy, they agree to help, and cheer, but Dana gets them back to sitting in silence. Meanwhile, Miss Mush is racing through the ruins of Mamaland, and uses a string of spaghetti to swing over several carnivorous plants. Back in the classroom, Mrs. Jewls walks in. She is caught off-guard by how quiet everyone is, when Dana has everyone stand up, present their homework, and compliment her. Mrs. Jewls asks what has happened, and Dana explains that it was Sammy's idea. She decides to give Sammy a gold star for his efforts, but accidentally pushes him off the desk, but he is caught in time by Maurecia. Maurecia listens closely to him, and according to her, is told to pursue her secret dream of becoming a ballerina. Todd laughs at this, and for the first time in the series, gets a punch he actually deserves. Maurecia dances with Sammy, eventually throwing him up into the air, but when he doesn't fall down, it's revealed that he has gotten stuck on the lamp at the top of the room. Myron decides to take the opportunity to finally show some leadership skills, and has the rest of the class agree to form a human ladder. Meanwhile, Miss Mush continues looking for the Golden Bowl of Mamaland, running around the ruins. She remarks it must be close, and keeps running, until she's back where she started. She says that the ruins look familiar, which mean she must be getting really close, and makes another lap around. Back in the classroom, Myron is forms the human ladder to rescue Sammy, and succeeds, though it topples over when Eric Bacon's arms give up, causing Myron to drop him. Sammy is picked up by Stephen, who believes that he should give up dressing up as an elf, and instead dress as a super elf who makes everyone celebrate Halloween every day. Todd picks up Sammy, and annoyed by how ridiculous everyone is acting, ends up chastising the rest of his class. However, when he realizes how harsh he has gotten, he starts questioning if Sammy actually does have the power to make everyone say the things they wouldn't be willing to otherwise. Mr. Kidswatter overhears Todd talking about how Sammy motivates everyone to say the things they aren't willing to, and realizes that he could use a motivational speaker. Mr. Kidswatter sneaks into the classroom to take away Sammy, and swaps him out from the peel of the banana he was eating, before running away. The class questions Todd what happened to Sammy, almost getting mad at him, before hearing Mr. Kidswatter on the intercom talking about how much he dislikes the students. He agrees that Sammy gives good advice, no matter how dead he is, and decides to take a nap. Dana worries, realizing that she was supposed to take care of Sammy for Miss Mush, who has just found the Golden Bowl and is carrying the arc it is inside back. Myron declares they must save Sammy, and they all make a plan to steal him back. In the principal's office, Mr. Kidswatter is still asleep, as Dana lets in Myron with a fishing line. Maurecia and Todd create a diversion as ballet dancers, and Kidswatter dances with them in his sleep. Dana orders for Myron to grab the dead rat, though he has to be careful, as Mr. Kidswatter occasionally intercepts his path with his dancing. When Miss Mush returns, Dana asks to hurry up, and when Mr. Kidswatter makes a big leap and crashes, Myron is able to successfully grab Sammy. Back in the kitchen, Miss Mush grabs the Golden Bowl of Mamaland, which turns out to be a golden trash can, and prepares to make a better soup for Sammy. Myron and Dana return Sammy to her, and when Miss Mush questions their get-up, they simply explain that it's something Sammy inspired them to do. Miss Mush questions if anything happened while she was gone, and Maurecia and Todd state that nothing happened as they dance into the room. Dana says that Sammy wants to say something. He says absolutely nothing, because he is dead, and everyone laughs at Sammy's perfect ending line. Characters *Sammy *Miss Mush *Yodana *Joe *Myron *Maurecia *Stephen *Jenny *Rondi *Leslie *Eric Fry *Eric Bacon *Eric Ovens *John *Todd *Elizabeth *Bebe *Shari *Mrs. Jewls *Mr. Kidswatter Transcript Read a transcript for "The Rat Truth" here. Trivia *This is the first half of the nineteenth episode of the series. Unfortunately, the show does nothing to recognize this fact, despite the nineteenth story being a running gag in both the books and cartoon. The same is true of its sister episode, "Free Stewy." *Much like in "Rat in Shining Armor," all the students appreciate Sammy in this episode. This is not true of the books, as seen in "Sammy." **That being said, this is the first time Mrs. Jewls is seen interacting with Sammy, or a dead rat in general in the cartoon, and her reaction is very different. Rather than being scared of him, she doesn't seem to mind him, and even gives him a gold star. Gallery See a gallery for "The Rat Truth" here. Category:Season 2 episodes Category:Episodes